Another view of Sessions' latest statements on Iraq

Sen. Jeff Sessions' comments on CBS over the holiday weekend have been intepreted by some as a loss of patience with the war in Iraq. I don't see it quite that strongly.

Here is a key quote from the interview on Face the Nation:

"But by September, when General Petraeus is to make a report, I think most of the people in Congress believe, unless something extraordinary occurs, that we should be on a move to draw those surge numbers down."

Certainly this is the most pessimistic that Sessions has been about whether the surge will be successful, but it is a long way from him saying it's hopeless. Sessions has long deferred to Petraeus as the ultimate arbiter of what will or won't work in Iraq. And if Petraeus tells Congress in September that there was adequate progress over the summer and that he needs more time, does anyone really believe Sessions would turn him down and insist on a draw down anyway? That is hard to imagine.

Here's some other comments from the same interview by Bob Schieffer, which are consistent with what Sessions has been saying in opposition to an immediate withdrawal:

"There's no doubt, if we're not successful in Iraq, the initiative will move to the Al Qaida, the radical jihadists that are -- will attack around the world. So peace will not occur just by drawing our troops home. It will really embolden the enemy. So the best solution is to get this Iraqi government up, get them to preserve their own integrity as a nation and to defend themselves. And that's a very important thing to achieve."